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The event Tuesday at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, ceremonial tossing of dirt with silver spades aside, went beyond another building popping up on campus.

The $16 million D.S. Davidson Invention to Innovation Center will not only be a classroom for students at UAH but for businesses seeking new starts or a window to new ideas.

That was a message brought by a series of speakers at the groundbreaking held in front of Salmon Library at UAH - including Huntsville philanthropist and successful businesswoman Dorothy Davidson and Gov. Kay Ivey.

Following
Monday's announcement that a new Airbus partnership could bring a second aircraft assembly line to Mobile, details such as when that plant might be built and how many jobs it might create remain unknown.

But even as they wait for answers to those and other questions to emerge, area officials say they have no doubt that the news is huge.

"I think it's phenomenal they have decided to continue to invest in Mobile," said Thomas "Chris" Curry, whose hiring as the new executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority
was announced just last week.

AlabamaGermany Partnership works to make sure foreign nationals and their companies feel right at home in Alabama

TEXT BY JESSICA ARMSTRONG

October 2017

For Germans doing business in Alabama, the phrase "Sweet Home Alabama" is more than a state slogan borrowed from the 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd hit song. German companies indeed feel at home here and the feeling is mutual.

And for Alabamians, what's not to love? For the past two decades, German companies have invested $8.4 billion in Alabama and created nearly 15,500 jobs in the state.

About 90 German-owned companies now operate in Alabama, observes Tine Hoffmeister, executive director of the AlabamaGermany Partnership, whose aim is to promote business opportunities and cultural exchange. The nonprofit was created nearly 20 years ago, after Mercedes-Benz built its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Vance, which kicked off Alabama's thriving auto industry.

More than $1.1 million in funding for industrial access road improvements in Randolph County has been approved by the Alabama Industrial Access Road and Bridge Corporation.

Approximately $397,000 will support improvements to Bud Cummings Road in Roanoke due to Koch Foods' decision to locate their $40.45-million feed mill here. The improvements to the road will also be an asset to the 25-acre "Alabama Advantage Site" at Randolph County Industrial Park located on Bud Cummings Road.

Local leaders played an important role in the funding and the recruitment process. "We appreciate our legislative delegation for their efforts in helping to secure this funding," said Marilyn Lott, executive director of Randolph County Economic Development Authority. "This was a team effort that required a commitment from the Randolph County Commission as the project sponsor."

Business confidence among Alabama's industry leaders is high heading into the final quarter of 2017.

The Alabama Business Confidence Index reached 65.2 for the second quarter of 2017. While the number was a slight dip statewide, from 61.6 to 58.7, the overall index score is still nearly five points higher than the previous five-year average.

The quarterly index provides results from surveys by the Center for Business and Economic Research in
University of Alabama'sCulverhouse College of Commerce and also breaks the data down by metro area.